New Pope

This is the full text of the Regina Caeli address given by Pope Leo XIV on May 18 following the end of his inauguration Mass.

Pope Leo formally began his ministry as the 266th successor of St. Peter at his inauguration Mass by calling for the church to give a united witness to Christ.

The head of the Midwestern Augustinian province that Pope Leo XIV once led called the U.S.-born new pope’s election a “moment of profound significance.”

Looking at the challenges that the church in the United States is facing, “I hope to be able to respond to them with healthy dialogue,” said Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, gives his first ‘urbi et orbi’ blessing after the American’s historic papal election.

CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan said the agency was “overjoyed by the election of Pope Leo XIV” and looks forward to his “leadership and guidance.”

Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope May 8 and took the name Pope Leo XIV.

Many Americans were around in Rome, some of whom live locally, or attend school, and others who were visiting — looking for the conclave’s sign of white smoke.